One Voice

Clipped from The New York Times

We don't seek to live in harmony, do we?

May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.  - Romans 15:5-7

In today's reading from the letter to the Romans, we hear encouragement to live in harmony with one another, so that we will glorify God with one voice.

But one voice is not what we are hearing these days.

So does harmony require that we all need to believe and say the same things?

That type of harmony only exists when all opposition has been silenced, and that goes against the principles on which this society we live in was founded.

Because we believe every voice should be heard, we have established Constitutional Rights to protect the voices that would normally be silenced.

There are countries where the ruling party has all but eliminated the opposition, and so there is harmony, one voice, a single viewpoint, but there is little or no freedom to disagree and form one's own opinions.

In this country, we tend to stand up for those whose voices are suppressed, and we work for ways to help those voices be heard.

I don't believe we will find a way to live in harmony with one another if we suppress the voices we don't agree with, even if we feel those voices are voices of discord and hatred.

Don't you think one of the prerequisites to love one another is to hear one another?

So, if harmony is our goal, then we need all voices singing together, but if we seek one voice, ours and ours alone, we will truly fail to glorify God.  We are all His and He wants to hear us all.

More to come...